1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a file update processing apparatus such as a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a file update processing apparatus such as a computer for storing/managing various types of files, e.g., sales files and inventory files, the contents of a file, of the stored files, designated as an update target, are generally updated on the basis of input data. In this case, files are updated in accordance with updating programs formed in advance by system design in correspondence with the respective files.
If, however, a large number of files are present, it takes much time and labor to design updating programs beforehand in correspondence with the respective files. For this reason, a file update processing apparatus capable of updating various types of files by referring to a directory which is arbitrarily set in advance has been developed and put into practice.
As shown in FIG. 9, in a file update processing apparatus of this type, a directory P1 set by system design or the like is stored in a storage unit. This directory P1 has a plurality of file update definitions. Each file update definition serves to define a file name of an update target and an update type ("add", "correct", "delete", or "total"). In addition, in each file update definition, the relationship between the field name of each record in the file and that of each input record is defined to change the form of each input record to the record form of an update file. The record form of each input record is changed to that of a corresponding file in accordance with a corresponding definition, thus forming an update record. Assume that a record consisting of fields a, b, c, and d is input. In this case, an update record corresponding to a file F1 and an update record corresponding to a file F2 are formed on the basis of two types of file update definitions set in the directory P1. The update record corresponding to the file F1 consists of fields A, B, C, and D. The contents of the records in the file F1 are totaled/updated on the basis of this update record. The update record corresponding to the file F2 consists of fields X, Y, and Z. Updating is performed to add a new record to the file F2 on the basis of this update record.
It is possible to confirm the contents of file update definitions in each directory by displaying them on a display screen or outputting them as a hard copy. However, the number of directories is increased, for example, as the number of types of files increases. If the number of file update definitions is increased accordingly, confirmation of definition contents requires very complicated and cumbersome operations.